McIlroy Takes Commanding Lead at The Masters

Rory McIlroy has significantly strengthened his bid for a successful title defence at The Masters, achieving a historic six-shot lead heading into the weekend at Augusta National. Following his career Grand Slam victory over Justin Rose last year, McIlroy continues to push for further major success with an impressive round-of-the-day 65 on Friday afternoon. He broke the record for the lowest 36-hole score by a defending champion, moving to 12 under and establishing the largest halfway lead in the tournament's history. McIlroy is now the firm favourite to join the ranks of Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, and Tiger Woods as a back-to-back winner of The Masters. The defending champion birdied six of his last seven holes, surpassing Sam Burns and former Masters winner Patrick Reed, while Justin Rose and Shane Lowry shared fourth place with Tommy Fleetwood after posting second-round 69s. McIlroy stated, 'This course allows you to get on a roll. I didn't expect to birdie six of the last seven holes, but I've always felt that when you're on a roll here, you can build momentum, and the crowd gets behind you, and you can just keep it going.' Tyrrell Hatton moved into a tied-seventh position with a six-under 66, while Bryson DeChambeau missed the cut after triple-bogeying the final hole of his two-over 74. McIlroy initially held a share of the overnight lead after equalling the second-lowest round by a defending champion at The Masters. He quickly took control of the tournament with three consecutive birdies from the second hole. The defending champion briefly gave the chasing pack hope when he missed a par save at the fifth hole and failed to capitalize on the eighth hole, before starting his second nine with a bogey. However, McIlroy reclaimed the solo advantage and sparked another birdie charge with a seven-foot birdie on the 12th hole. He took advantage of the par-five 13th and 15th holes, just as he did on the opening day, and fired a stunning tee shot to kick-in range at the par-three 16th to move four clear of the pack. Reed bogeyed the last to fall back to six under with Burns, who finished his one-under 71 with three birdies in his last five holes. McIlroy recovered from an errant drive at the 17th to finish just short of the green, where a sensational 30-yard chip-in pulled him further ahead, before a closing eight-foot birdie sealed a memorable Friday. The lead matches the same halfway advantage McIlroy held at the 2011 US Open, which he went on to win and claim his maiden major. Every player this century who held a 36-hole buffer of six or more shots has gone on to win. McIlroy added, 'I desperately wanted to win here so I could come back every year, and thankfully I was able to do that last year. So, doing that, when I miss fairways, it's fine. When I miss greens, it's fine. I feel like I'm playing with house money, which is a nice feeling to have.' Only 19 of the 54 players who made it through to the weekend are under-par at the halfway stage, with world No 1 Scottie Scheffler on level-par and 12 off the pace after a two-over 74.